Fish and Wildlife Service February 22, 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have received an application from Weyerhaeuser Company for an Endangered Species Act (ESA) Enhancement of Survival Permit (Permit) for the federally threatened northern spotted owl. The Permit application includes a draft safe harbor agreement (SHA) addressing access to Weyerhaeuser Company lands for the survey and removal of barred owls as part of the Service's Barred Owl Removal Experiment (Experiment) in Lane County, Oregon. The Service also announces the availability of a draft environmental assessment (EA) that has been prepared in response to the Permit application in accordance with requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). We are making the Permit application, including the draft SHA and the draft EA, available for public review and comment.

This proposed rule would establish regulations for fish and shellfish seasons, harvest limits, methods, and means related to taking of fish and shellfish for subsistence uses during the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 regulatory years. The Federal Subsistence Board (Board) is on a schedule of completing the process of revising subsistence taking of fish and shellfish regulations in odd-numbered years and subsistence taking of wildlife regulations in even-numbered years; public proposal and review processes take place during the preceding year. The Board also addresses customary and traditional use determinations during the applicable cycle. When final, the resulting rulemaking will replace the existing subsistence fish and shellfish taking regulations. This proposed rule would also amend the general regulations on subsistence taking of fish and wildlife.